I am sure that no one in their right mind is collecting Constantine/Licinius coins by mintmark like I am so I am not sure why I am even posting this. But you guys will read anything I have been told, so why not?

The old daddy-o of the Tetrarchy, Diocletian finds himself trapped in billion...a billion Tetradrachm of Alexandria, Egypt that is. A tetrarch on a tetradrachm. Ha. @Mat has got me hooked on looking at these. Once in a while, you find a neat little coin for $5.

Then a group of Constantine coins. I know that these are not earth shattering, but if I try to show my wife and explain the mint mark system again, I am pretty sure I am going to be living on lower Wacker Drive.

The next coin is very interesting even for a reduced follis. There are some details on these coins that make it fun to compare one coin to another. On this issue, there are stars in the fields of the helmet and three dots on the vertical band from crown to temple. On the reverse, there is a diamond pattern on the alter with a dot in the center as well as in each of the four corners. Little details like this keep me occupied for hours. And that is kind of what this is all about, I think.

Finally, a very nice Licinius from our friend @John Anthony. Quite the nice coin, with a scarcer mintmark combination on the reverse of K, left, Wreath over X over B, right, ALE in the exergue. A happy little purchase when the Severans are scarce.

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This Maxentius came to me via a group lot, but I've grown quite fond of it. I wonder how it survived quality control at the Ostia mint, and I'm curious if it raised the eyebrows of the merchants it was tendered to and if it was then accepted or rejected. Perhaps most of all I marvel at (and am glad for) the fact that whoever dug it up a thousand years or so later didn't just toss it into the trash bin. I'm very much in the camp of those who believe that every coin deserves an owner.

@zumbly Lol, you can say that again. That coin looks like it lost a bar fight. But I agree, everything has value even if it isn't a pile of money. A fancy collector might throw that in the garbage, but to a kid or one of us it is a worthwhile piece deserving of love. Well, you know what I mean.

@Daniel_R6 Nope, it's a free-for-all. I just check my Forvm page to see if I already have the mintmark/bust/legend combo and if I do not and it is reasonable enough, I buy it. Occasionally my ADD allows me to drill down and really look for a few coins if I am close to completing a series like all mintmarks of a certain combination for Arles, for example, I will hunker down and look for PARL, TARL, SARL, etc.

@gsimonel That is a pretty sweet and scarce mintmark on a great looking coin. I do not have one yet. Can't wait to get one.

@Alegandron I would happily take the Titius quinarius if I had the chance. I own no pegasii and sometimes you just have to pull the trigger when the price is right.

@ancient coin hunter That's pretty sweet. I was the underbidder on a three dots yesterday. I did just get a GENIO IMPERATORS though, so it looks like I will have to struggle on while I look for a three dots.